The Chip Kelly Offense — Charlie’s Film Room Week 1

The last time I had a film review piece come out was Jan. 15. It was a look at Aidan Chiles from the 2025 season after the news had broken that he was transferring to Evanston. It feels good to be back, plus I'm doing things a little differently (at least for this first one). Instead of having six to 10 clips all separate, I'm aiming to have multiple "B-Roll Blocks" of different aspects of the game, for example "Aidan Chiles passing" and then " Northwestern rushing." Also, the footage is now in all-22 format, which hopefully I'll be able to continue throughout the season. I also might not go through every single play in these cut-ups, but it's a good reference point. Every play I'll try to have two angles: the traditional all-22 view and the back view. With all that being said and out of the way, it's time to dive on in!

For his first game as a Wildcat, Chiles put some solid tape out there. His final stat line, 14-of-24 for 273 and one touchdown on 28 dropbacks, doesn't tell the full story of the tape. Chiles' EPA/play per PFF was 0.140, putting him right around the midpoint among all FBS quarterbacks that played in Weeks 0 and 1, including above Demond Williams Jr. ( Washington ), Micah Alejado ( Hawaii ), Drew Mestemaker (Oklahoma State) and Bryce Underwood ( Michigan ), just to name a few. Chiles did take two sacks, which is both on him and on the offensive line that was missing Ezomo Oratokhai and lost Jackson Carsello in the second half.

Chiles pushed the ball downfield often, only throwing two passes behind the line of scrimmage, while 13 of his throws were 10-plus yards downfield. On 20-plus yard throws, Chiles was 3-of-4 for 128. PFF considered Chiles to be under pressure on 11 of his dropbacks, during which he took the two sacks and was 4-of-7 for 113, compared to 10-of-17 for 160 and one touchdown without pressure. On the 10 play-action dropbacks, Chiles was 7-of-10 for 177, which included his first throw of the game to Griffin Wilde . On these 10 dropbacks, his EPA/play was 0.790 — 45th-highest in the FBS in Week 1.

Grant Seagren had the highest PFF offensive grade among Northwestern offensive linemen, but Anthony Birsa led the team in pass blocking grade after coming in for Carsello. Joseph Himon II and Gavin Sawchuk were sixth and eighth respectively in PFF rushing grade among Big Ten running backs this week, with Himon's 80-yard scamper contributing heavily to that. Wilde was the highest graded wide receiver for NU this week per PFF in both offensive and receiving grades, running 28 routes on 29 pass snaps and going 3-for-104. Interestingly enough, Northwestern only played four wide receivers in this game: Wilde, Hayden Eligon II, Drew Wagner and Ricky Ahumaraeze. Something that popped out of the stats is that Wagner led the team in targets (and it wasn't particularly close). Wagner was targeted seven times, with Wilde's four targets being the second-most for NU.

Alex Honig had the highest receiving grade of any Northwestern player (seventh in Big Ten), finishing with the lone receiving touchdown. He ran six routes on eight pass snaps, with Luke Dehnicke being the more featured tight end in the receiving game. The Division II transfer ran 23 routes on 25 pass snaps: the third-most routes run for NU behind Wilde and Wagner. Dehnicke was also targeted twice, finishing 2-for-41 but flashing his potential in this Chip Kelly offense.

On the first offensive play for Northwestern in Kelly's offense, Chiles hit Wilde off the play-action fake for a massive gain. What's most impressive is Chiles' pocket awareness, stepping up and delivering the throw with defenders encircling him. South Dakota State sent five rushers, and Chiles is able to read the cover 2 look, with one of the safeties slipping to allow for the massive gain. The very next play, Chiles works through his progressions to find Honig who is sitting in a soft spot of the cover 3 defense for an easy touchdown. Deuce McGuire also took the left edge rusher completely out of the play.

In the next clip, Chiles showcases his ability to extend plays with his legs. While his pocket passing was fairly good in this game, part of the appeal to his game is his athleticism with his legs and his potential to improvise. The play-action fake drags No. 97 away from Chiles, who jukes a defender before an easy dump-off to Honig. The levels concept in this play worked on both levels, with Eligon II also open, although Chiles chose to go with the easier throw while on the run against what looks to be a disguised fire zone 3 blitz. For the next clip, although it's a check down, it shows Chiles' ability to maneuver the pocket. The Jackrabbits play cover 1 man on this play, but Komolafe goes unmarked and Chiles finds him after going through his progressions and failing to find an open man. McGuire again does a great job keeping Chiles clean on his right side.

After Carsello went down with a neck injury, Birsa held up fantastically at center, which can be seen in this next clip. Chiles diagnoses what looks to be a Tampa 2 defense and finds Drew Wagner right in that sweet spot of the zone up the right seam for a big gain, despite Tampa 2 not being the easiest defense to throw up the seam on. The play after, South Dakota State shows Chiles a cover 3 look, which he dices up perfectly by hitting Dehnicke in the right seam for another big gain. This rep was also one of the more cleaner ones for the offensive line, with it looking like Chiles could have stayed in the pocket for another second or two. On the final clip in this cut-up, the Jackrabbits send six at Chiles and play man in the backend. Chiles stands in the pocket and delivers a strike right in the bucket to Wagner just in front of the defender. It was a great grab by Wagner and a money throw from Chiles.

This is just one clip, and it's Chiles' rushing touchdown. There's not much to diagnose on Chiles' part in this play, but I still wanted to include it to show off the play design. Northwestern is in 12 personnel here with just a yard to gain on third-and-1, and Chiles fakes the sneak and takes it around the left side untouched into the end zone, catching South Dakota State sleeping.

Northwestern has three running backs that undoubtedly will make an impact this season, and that was showcased immediately. Eye test wise, Sawchuk looked the best on the ground overall, Komolafe showed his ability to fight through contact and Himon II showed off his explosiveness. Komolafe led with 10 carries, followed by Sawchuk with eight and Himon II with four. While Himon II's 21.8 yards-per-carry average is ballooned by his long rushing touchdown, he showed his ability as a home-run hitter and his prowess after he breaks into the open field. He also caught a pass for 15 yards, where the same thing was on display. In these clips, Sawchuk's ability to wait and follow his blockers to diagnose his running lanes is very impressive. His patience combined with his shiftiness allowed for him to average 8.6 yards per carry despite his longest run being 21 yards. Take away that run, and he still would have averaged just about 4.6 yards a pop. Komolafe did average 4.6 yards per carry across his 10 attempts, plus he added 37 yards on two receptions. Komolafe ran more routes than Himon II in this game, which could be a sign of things to come with him as a multi-dimensional back. Komolafe's final rushing total was 46 yards. Forty of those yards came after contact. AFTER CONTACT! He had the same amount of rush yards after contact as Darius Taylor did this week, who himself had three rushing scores against a much weaker Eastern Illinois defense. All three backs showcased their respective games and how they can be involved in this offense, with all providing something a bit different to create a murky situation for fantasy football, but an offensive coordinator's dream for mixing up personnel.